A number of Galleon Place and Ledwell Court (Phase H) leaseholders are reporting difficulties selling their properties due to a dearth of information concerning the materials used to make up the cladding (which can include materials used for balconies).
Following the Grenfell disaster, lenders are increasingly reluctant to lend against a property where there is no information as to the constituent parts of the cladding.
The "vendors’ pack" provided by RMG contains no information on the topic at all, and there is currently no published information available from the builders, Berkeley Homes. The mortgage lenders' surveyors are therefore unable to ascertain the materials used and, not unnaturally, they have little choice but to advise their clients not to lend.
Although Berkeley Homes has signed up to the scheme promoted by Michael Gove MP, to give every assistance to providing information on cladding used, their immediate focus is on taller buildings and have advised that they will be looking into the issue at Royal Clarence but not before next year at the earliest.
Concerns in many cases could be addressed by the provision of reliable, accurate information regarding the makeup of the various types of wall cladding such as is evident at Phase H, thus removing the assumption that there might be an unacceptable fire risk.
As a consequence, the Residents Association has drafted a letter to be sent to RMG this week as the Responsible Person and to Berkeley Homes as the builder, requesting the information necessary to advise surveyors of the materials used in the building of both Galleon Place and Ledwell Court. We are most fortunate that two owners of properties at Phase H have the necessary professional skills to understand the issues and the concerns around them; one is an architect who has been heavily involved with the Grenfell enquiry and the other is a structural engineer.
We are requesting information which Berkeley Homes should already have in its possession and which can then be included in the vendors’ pack from RMG.
Further information and progress will be posted here on the RCMRA website and also on the Royal Clarence Marina Residents Facebook Group.
If leaseholders have information they would like to share, or questions to ask, please contact the Phase H leaseholder reps on the RCMRA Committee: Steve Parry (ledwell@rcmra.co.uk and/or David Whitehead (galleon@rcmra.co.uk ).
